ALBANY, New York (AP) -- From New York to
California, governments seem driven to distraction by motorists with
cellular phones.

Carrying broad public support, bans on drivers
using hand-held cell phones have been proposed in 40 states, according to
the National Conference of State Legislatures. None of the bills has
passed yet, although a measure in New York is expected to win approval
soon.

At least a dozen localities have already
established bans, starting in 1999 with Brooklyn, Ohio, and recently
including the three crowded counties around New York City -- Westchester,
Nassau and Suffolk.

All the action has the wireless phone industry
warning evidence is far from conclusive that cell phones are really
responsible for the mayhem now being blamed on them. The industry says
about 115 million cell phones are in use, both in cars and out of them.

"We do feel that they are getting a bad rap," said
Dee Yanhoskie, manager of the wireless education program for the Cellular
Telecommunications and Internet Association. "In 1905, windshield wipers
where thought to be hypnotizing to the driver, and just think what a
safety device they are. In 1930, they tried to take the radio out of the
car because they thought it was disturbing to the peace and distracting."

Yanhoskie's Washington-based trade group is
sponsoring a $9 million radio advertising campaign which urges drivers not
to talk on hand-held phones if those conversations pose a danger to
themselves or other drivers.

But the group also contends that cell phones are a
potential lifesaver because stranded motorists can call for help or alert
police to reckless drivers.

"There is no need for new legislation," Yanhoskie
said.

A much-cited 1997 study in the New England Journal
of Medicine suggested that using hand-held cell phones increases the
chances of accidents while driving fourfold, or roughly the same as
drunken driving.

Yet a AAA-funded study by the University of North
Carolina showed driver distraction was a factor in 8 percent of 32,303
traffic accidents analyzed from 1995-99. Of those distracting activities,
a plurality of drivers -- nearly 30 percent -- said they were distracted
by something outside their vehicle. Only 1.5 percent were using a cell
phone.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
is urging more careful record keeping of whether drivers in traffic
accidents were using hand-held phones. About 20 states have already
started, the Cellular Communications and Internet Association said.

One of the association's members, Verizon Wireless,
says it is not opposing a cell phone ban for drivers proposed in New York.
The company even favors a national ban for the sake of uniformity, said
Dan Mullin, director of public policy for Verizon Wireless in eight
Northeastern states.

U.S. Sen. John Corzine, D-New Jersey, and U.S. Rep.
Gary Ackerman, D-New York, introduced such bills on May 22. But federal
restrictions seem unlikely, at least in the short term.

New York, however, is poised to enact a statewide
law once Gov. George Pataki and the Legislature settle a state budget
impasse.

A Quinnipiac University poll of New York voters in
March showed 87 percent supported a ban on hand-held cell phone use by
drivers. A similar nationwide poll in May by ABC News showed 7 out of 10
Americans favored a ban on drivers using hand-held phones.

The impending law has created interest in devices,
ranging from $20 to $200, that allow cell phones to be used "handsfree."

"There are a lot of people reading about the
potential of these bans and they're trying to stay ahead of the law and
stay safe and legal," Garry Haltof, a design engineer from
Penfield, near the western New York city of Rochester, who has created a
cradle for cell phones on a car dashboard.

Haltof wishes one particular driver was using his
invention last August when he was driving with his family on a highway
outside Rochester.

The woman, with a cell phone to her ear, failed to
slow down as she approached a road construction zone. She plowed into a
car behind Haltof, which then rammed into Haltof's vehicle. All three
vehicles suffered extensive damage. No one was hurt.

Haltof said when he walked back to the woman's car,
she was still on the phone.

"I knocked on the window and she waves me away. I
was incredulous," Haltof said. " It was kind of ironic that here I am
trying to sell this stuff and I get smacked by a woman who was totally
impervious to anything happening around her!"